Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 125020 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125020 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
“No,” I say sadly. “Not yet. We’ll be here for a few days and then I’m going to Grenada.”
“I miss you, but I’m so proud of you.”
“Thanks. I miss you too. How’re your assholes?”
“They’re fine. Kelex has been busy and traveling. Pit’s having something at the bar. I’m probably going to head to that. Hold on a sec.” She pauses on the other end for a few beats. “What the fuck?” she breathes, moving away from the phone.
“What? What is it?”
“I know the way he moves. This is Kelex,” she says.
“What?”
“There’s a video that just popped up of some guy with a mask on beating the shit out of some dude’s white BMW. The asshole the car belongs to is one of Josh’s neighbors. The guy beating the shit out of the car… I think it’s Josh.”
“No, really?”
“Yeah, Batting Rage, that’s the title of the video.”
I grab my laptop and search for the video. I watch with my mouth hanging open. The sounds in the background when I called him come back to me. Oh my God, it was him.
Why would he do something like this? I watch as he swings and hits some guy who runs out in his underwear. I have a hard time reconciling this video with the sweet guy I know.
“Wow,” I breathe as I watch the video once more.
“Hey, I have to go,” Ven says, pulling me back to the call.
“Later.”
I hang up and watch the video again. His face is covered, but Ven is right. The body frame is right. There’s no doubt it’s him. I can’t help wondering what happened to cause this. Josh is such a sweetheart.
Chapter 23
Wait, Hold On
Shawna
Present…
“Wait, hold on,” Skittles says, interrupting as we recount what happened all those years ago.
I remember most of it differently from Joshua. This is placing so much into perspective for me. I feel so naive. Joshua had so much going on.
I didn’t see it from his side. I only saw things from the end, never the beginning. Greece shouldn’t have shocked me so much. It’s always been in my face, just covered in misunderstanding and lack of knowledge.
“Why didn’t you ever tell me that’s why you started the foundation? You were helping that family. That’s when you went all secretive on me. I would have helped. You could have trusted me,” Ven says through her hurt.
“I made a promise. I couldn’t take the risk. I needed to get them help, not break their trust. The way things looked, you would have wanted to call someone,” Josh says.
He drops his head and swallows. “You also didn’t know me, the real me. I knew if anything happened to Mary, I was going to reveal myself when I took care of her husband,” he continues darkly.
I start to bounce my knee nervously. I know how that all ends. Sadly, Ven doesn’t need to know any of that. I’m still in shock about Ivan. I can’t be the only one who caught that.
“You keep saying that. What do you mean I don’t know the real you?”
“Ven, think about it. Where do you think I disappear to all the time? Why do you think Jeff called me when you entered Castro’s race club? It wasn’t to sit on the hood of your car and take pictures. Come on, what did you joke about when you met my grandfather?”
“He reminded me of an old Greek version of a mob boss,” Ven gasps and turns to look at Lex. “This is what you meant. It’s been right in my face.”
Lex pulls a face at her. “Bing bong.” She then turns to me. “I hope you got the message.”
Joshua looks to me and frowns. He reaches to cover my still-bouncing knee. I lock eyes with him and see the same worry as this morning.
“Unfortunately, she has. I wish I could change that, but I can’t. Just like I can’t change who I am.”
He pauses and looks down into his lap. His brows scrunch in the center of his forehead as if he’s coming to some realization. I’ve watched him have this look before.
Then it’s like he speaks his thoughts. “You guys know me as this sweet guy, sometimes an asshole, mostly the wiseass. You all know who I want to be, not who I am.”
Luke snorts. “I know an asshole when I see one.”
“You took the words right out of my mouth,” Deacon adds.
I turn, remembering the others that are here as we relive our past. At the end of the day, each of these men has shown me kindness. However, I get Joshua’s words.
I’ve seen his dark side. Not the asshole, but the man who has no mercy. What did Lex call him?
A savage, a killer. Right, I’ve met the savage who lives within this man. I know that face firsthand.